Erlenbach-Küsnacht Gorge Trail on the East Side of Lake Zurich

Saturday May 20, 2023 -- On the East side of Lake Zurich there is a 10-km quasi loop trail called the "Erlenbach-Küsnacht Tobelweg", a lovely trail almost exclusively along various streams through forested gorges, a real treat in this very densely populate area. On an overcast weekend day, this was an ideal outing for us, as it only took us an hour to get here, so we didn't waste a lot of time on the road.

The last time we walked such a gorge on the East side of Lake Zurich it was winter, and the landscape was all brown, and the trees were bare. It was so pleasant to spend three hours this time with the dense green foliage all around, and it's always a pleasure to walk next to rushing streams in a forest setting. The only thing missing was the sunshine, which is lovely in the spring forest. 

On the three-hour walk (we made it just over four hours) we barely saw any buildings except at the start and finish, and halfway up where the trail moved from one gorge to the other. Along the way we learned of local legends of a dragon's cave, were informed about the molasse geology in this region, and passed the resting place of a massive boulder from a 2013 mountain slide. Furthermore, there were endless waterfalls along the way, both natural and man-made risers. 

The walk would have been perfect in summer as well. Who knows, maybe we'll come back on a very hot summer day!

The recommended direction is to start in Erlenbach, but we started in Küsnacht. This stream has the unoriginal name of "Dorfbach", or "Village Stream" (as does the one that descends to Erlenbach). We started at about 9:15

Along the way, this is the evangelical church in Küsnacht. Always, if time permits, we have a look inside the churches.

Most impressive inside this church, besides the HUGE and attractive pipe organ, are the large balconies on three sides, with lovely wood carvings along the balcony walls

Outside the church was a lovely display of rhododendrons in so many different colors!

A selection of lovely houses as we ascend toward the gorge

At this point we crossed the stream on a small bridge. 

Finally, it's about time that we get to enjoy some of the pretty meadow flowers

Final edge of the city before entering the forest. An old farmhouse... 

The website description is for starting in Erlenbach, so we passed the described waterfall at the end of our hike. We missed seeing the Alexander Stone, unfortunately. We did make the detour to the Dragon's Cave, though! (It was on the Küsnacht side)

A 10-km hike almost entirely through forested gorges. We started by hiking up the Küsnachter Tobel, and descended to Erlenbach. It was an astonishing and lovely local recreation area in a very densely-populated area.

Heading up the gorge along the Küsnacht "Dorfbach", there were man-made risers such as this one every few meters. These are to prevent massive flooding of the river if there is a lot of water heading down. The trail here was mostly wide like this. At this point in our hike we had a few small bits of sunshine. 

We crossed the river back and forth a few times on similar bridges to this one. 

The information panel explains that there is a very special geological effect in this molasse rock: The lower lighter level is soft marlstone created when the area was below water level. Then as the water receded, plants, possibly even primeval forest, flourished, but were then destroyed by layers of heavy sediment from later flooding, causing the vegetation to be pressed into a layer of carbon, which is the black horizontal line displayed here. This process occurred over millions of years. 

Man-made risers along the river every few meters. It was a lovely sound of many "waterfalls"

At this point we have reached the "Dragon's Cave". The placard informs us of the geology of the caves, but also the legend that a dragon used to live here, frightening the locals until a brave knight named Georg overpowered it with (apparently) a diamond chain.... 

We climbed up to the caves to see if we could find the dragon....

Heading back down from the dragon's cave

Next interesting discovery: A huge block of molasse which was released from the rock slide of 2013 and landed here next to the river. The rock is aptly named "Dragon's Head"

The 250-ton "Dragon's Head" got its name from a local naming competition, most likely as a reference to the nearby Dragon's Cave. It was left here as a reminder of the 2013 event and of the forces of nature which formed the Küsnacht Gorge

Posing with the magnificent, 250-ton Dragon's Head

More risers (cascades) from a joining stream at the highest section of the gorge. Between the Dragon's Cave and here, the Gorge is now called "Rüdlitobel"

At 11 a.m. we found a good spot, across from a higher "waterfall", for our early picnic lunch. 

This was the waterfall next to the picnic spot ideally located for our picnic lunch.

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This is the "waterfall" where we had our picnic lunch. I will never get tired of this sound:

Continuing along the Dorfbach river with its many risers. This section of the gorge is called "Mülitobel", as there would have been an old mill up here. 

At the half-way point of our hike (Tobelmüli) along themed Trail no.869: "Erlenbach-Küsnacht Tobelweg", the trail continues along the Dorfbach through the next gorge called Rieschbachtobel.  

There is still a stretch of uphill, before our descent to Erlenbach. 

Bridges and stairs are always fun

Before entering the final gorge above Erlenbach, we passed through some agricultural land and several wide open fields. Here in the distance we spotted a chicken farm. These, you can see, are really free-range chickens!

The gorge closest to Erlenbach was the prettiest of them all. The trails were narrower and softer, and the stream (also called Dorfbach) was smaller and its course was more natural. 

Some very interesting (and VERY LARGE) fungi growing out of the trees

Even though we had little sunshine on this day, we totally enjoyed this 10-km hike through the gorges, espectially this section of the river. 

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Such a lovely section of forest with its natural waterfalls

More bridges

Finally, we arrived at the "real" waterfall we had read about in the tour description. 

Lovely 12-m waterfall in the Gorge above Erlenbach. 

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Erlenbach waterfall (there was a long series of wooden stairs next to the waterfall, to get up or down the trail)

On this section, the "risers" were natural. At the end of our hike now, we got a bit of sunshine

Passing some more lovely flowering gardens on our way to the train station in Erlenbach. We got to the train staion at 13:40, just 3 minutes before the train arrived. 

I found this interesting: There was a building with four such panels carved in sandstone on the front wall, depicting the transport of goods over the centuries. Nicely done. 

What the 10-km tour looks like on Google Satellite Maps

These lovely dandelion "clocks" are sculptures which we have now seen in a few places on our travels They look so real! This is next to the Goldbach Train Station, on our train ride back to Zurich. 

From the west side of Lake Zurich (as we head back home southwards to Zug), we get a look across the lake to the east side, at the approximate place we walked (the green section on the left). 

It doesn't take us very long to get to the region around Lake Zurich, but we don't walk here often as the trails around the area are mostly on paved roads, or forest trails.